Evicted: 36 Stouffville residents served notice of affordable housing demolition

Many of the residents living at 465 Rupert Ave. are seniors on fixed incomes

Yorkregion.com
Feb. 19, 2020
Simon Martin

Tucked away in the shadow of the Rupert Park hill where so many Stouffville families enjoyed their sleds family day weekend is 465 Rupert Ave.

The building used to be where Parkview Home was located before it moved in 2006. Now the landlord is telling its residents that it is planning to demolish the building as soon as July.

The news has residents on fixed incomes like Kevin Stromberg worrying about their future.

On Feb. 5th he along with 35 other residents were slipped n13 eviction notices under their doors.

“We are going to fight them tooth and nail on this,” Stromberg said. “It’s like walking into the twilight zone. When I came here (in 2015) I was really happy to have a place over my head.”

Stromberg said the majority of the residents in the building are seniors or have some sort of disability. Several of the residents are subsidized by the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Authority.

Donna Turner has lived in the building for eight years, has left side paralysis and is on the Canadian Pension Plan. “I opened the envelope up and couldn’t believe it,” she said.

According to Turner the building has not been kept in good condition. A broken intercom, bedbugs and hot water have all been issues Turner cited as problems.

For resident Barb Winters the notice was crushing. “I can’t afford to leave here. I can’t afford the rent in Stouffville and I have to stay in Stouffville,” she said. “It’s made me feel sick to my stomach because I’ve been looking and there’s nothing out there that I can afford.”

She works at a local long-term care facility and needs to be close because she doesn’t drive.

While Mayor Iain Lovatt described the matter has a landlord-tenant issue and not a town issue, he said he will do what he can to try and help residents. Lovatt said many residents are paying between $500 and $800 a month which are below subsidizes rates today which exacerbates the problem.

As Vice-Chair of Housing York Lovatt said the problem of affordable housing is an issue right across the country.

“That’s why I ask every developer who comes into my office how they can bring an element of affordable housing,” he said.

With a non-existing vacancy rate in Stouffville, Lovatt said the rental market is particularly challenging.

“Even if there was rental available in Stouffville they couldn’t afford it. The rent would be double. These are pensioners. It’s devastating,” he said.

Many of the residents reached out to Ward 4 Coun. Rick Upton when they received the notice under their doors.

“They are besides themselves. They are devastated. They have been there so long they just don’t know what they are going to do,” Upton said. “It breaks my heart. It is so sad.”

Lovatt and Upton met with residents along with representatives from York Region Community Services, Community Partnerships and Support Services and Housing York. The town is also set to meet with the property owner to gain an understanding of the circumstances around the evictions, Lovatt said.

The building is run by the same group that runs the neighbouring Glengrove on the Park, which experienced numerous delays. Original approved by council in 2006, Glengrove on the Park did not open its doors until 2018. It is owned by the Egi family.

July 1 was the eviction date on the notice given to residents but Upton said there is a lot of things that would have to happen  before that was allowed by the Landlord and Tenant Board.

While Glengrove on the Park was being built, Stromberg said the 465 Rupert building was left in poor condition. Bedbugs infestations, an intercom that didn't work, flooring that needed to be replaced were at the top of Stromberg’s list of grievances.

As residents grapple with the prospect of having to find a new place to live the immediate landscape appears bleak to them.

“It is the only affordable place in Stouffville,” Winters said of the building. It was much the same story from Stromberg.

“There’s nothing available to rent in town right now,” Stromberg said.

Lovatt said it is particularly upsetting that it’s the most vulnerable people in the community that received this news. “There’s no doubt that the community can rally around these people,” he said.

“Stouffville has always been a community that supports each other through good times and bad and this situation is no different.”